Case-Control Study of Cervicovaginal β/γ–Human Papillomavirus Infection in Women With Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Its Relation to Incident Cervical Precancer

We studied cervicovaginal β/γ–human papillomavirus (HPV) and their relationship to cervical precancer in women with human immunodeficiency virus; having previously reported strong positive associations of β/γ-HPV with incident head and neck cancer in the general population. Case patients (n = 124) had cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 3 or 2. Controls (n = 247) were individually matched 2:1 to case patients. Unexpectedly, multivariate analyses found strong inverse associations between β/γ-HPV and CIN-2/3 (odds ratio, 0.19 [95% confidence interval, .04–.86]; P = .03; Ptrend < .01]). This is, to our knowledge, the first study of β/γ-HPV and cervical precancer. If confirmed, a strong inverse (protective) association would be of potential clinical and biologic relevance.